Category Archives: Japanese

Oh Lucy! (2017) Review

"Oh Lucy!" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi Cast: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Shiori Kutsuna, Koji Yakusho, Megan Mullally, Reiko Aylesworth, Suzuka Ohgo, Hajime Inoue, Leni Ito Running Time: 95 min.  By Kelly Warner Setsuko is a depressed, lonely middle-aged woman working in a joyless office job with nothing to come home to but a big mess of an apartment. Her family – a bitchy sister and a niece that was the result … Continue reading

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Ajin: Demi Human (2017) Review

"Ajin: Demi Human" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro Manga: Gamon Sakurai Cast: Takeru Satoh, Gou Ayano, Yuu Shirota, Yudai Chiba, Yuki Yamada, Tetsuji Tamayama, Rina Kawaei, Minami Hamabe, Hiroshi Shinagawa Running Time: 109 min. By Paul Bramhall For those who’ve become jaded when faced with the endless superhero franchises that have come to dominate Hollywood in recent years, then chances are they haven’t had to suffer through any of Japan’s big screen manga adaptations. While … Continue reading

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Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! (1963) Review

Director: Seijun Suzuki Writer: Iwao Yamazaki, Haruhiko Oyabu Cast: Joe Shishido, Reiko Sasamori, Tamio Kawachi, Nobuo Kaneko, Kinzo Shin, Naomi Hoshi, Asao Sano, Yuko Kusunoki, Kotoe Hatsui Running Time: 89 min. By Kelly Warner Like most people, my first Seijun Suzuki film was the infamous Branded to Kill. It was unlike any crime movie I’d seen before; weird, visually inventive, playful, and shocking. Jo Shishido got off on the smell of rice, there were all … Continue reading

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Legend of the Demon Cat (2017) Review

"Legend of the Demon Cat" Theatrical Poster

Director: Chen Kaige Cast: Shota Sometani, Huang Xuan, Hiroshi Abe, Sandrine Pinna, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shohei Hino, Zhang Luyi, Baiqing Xin, Tian Yu, Qin Hao, Crystal Zhang Tian-Ai Running Time: 132 min.  By Paul Bramhall It’s been 3 years since fifth generation alumni Chen Kaige made his ill-advised wuxia caper Monk Comes Down the Mountain, however far from looking like a director licking his wounds, Kaige’s latest storms out the gates … Continue reading

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Evil of Dracula (1974) Review

"Evil of Dracula" Japanese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Bloodsucking Rose Director: Michio Yamamoto Cast: Toshio Kurosawa, Mariko Mochizuki, Kunie Tanaka, Shin Kishida, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Mio Ota, Mika Katsuragi, Keiko Aramaki, Yunosuke Ito, Yasuko Agawa Running Time: 87 min. By Kelly Warner In Michio Yamamoto’s Bloodthirsty Trilogy, The Vampire Doll was like a fever dream of a vampire movie and Lake of Dracula was a social anxiety thriller disguised as a vampire movie, so where could the director … Continue reading

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Lake of Dracula (1971) Review

"Lake of Dracula" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Michio Yamamoto Writer: Ei Ogawa, Masaru Takesue Cast: Midori Fujita, Sanae Emi, Choei Takahashi, Shin Kishida, Tadao Futami, Mika Katsuragi, Setsuko Kawaguchi, Tatsuo Matsushita, Yasuzo Ogawa, Haruo Suzuki Running Time: 81 min. By Kyle Warner In Vampire Doll, the first film of Michio Yamamoto’s Bloodthirsty Trilogy, the director made a vampire movie that wasn’t much of a vampire movie. The Vampire Doll is this strange, dreamlike tale of devotion to … Continue reading

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Vampire Doll, The | aka Legacy of Dracula (1970) Review

"The Vampire Doll" Japanese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Night of the Vampire Director: Michio Yamamoto Writer: Ei Ogawa, Hiroshi Nagano Cast: Yukiko Kobayashi, Yoko Minazake, Atsuo Nakamura, Kayo Matsuo, Akira Nakao, Jun Usami Running Time: 71 min. By Kyle Warner Vampires don’t have a long history in Japanese cinema. Though Japan does import Dracula and vampire tales from overseas, the ol’ bloodsuckers just don’t have much of a connection to Japanese culture and have never secured that … Continue reading

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Man with a Shotgun, The (1961) Review

"The Man with a Shotgun" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Hideaki Nitani, Izumi Ashikawa, Yuji Kodaka, Yoko Minamida, Akio Tanaka, Eiji Go, Keisuke Noro, Asao Sano, Jun Hamamura Running Time: 84 min.  By Kelly Warner Nikkatsu was always fond of mixing genre tropes from American movies into their films (sometimes they admitted it was less a case of influence and more a copy and paste job). Usually we think of American gangster films as the main … Continue reading

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Tokyo Knights (1961) Review

"Tokyo Knights" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Koji Wada, Mayumi Shimizu, Yoko Minamida, Nobuo Kaneko, Yoshiko Nezu, Shoichi, Ozawa George, Luiker Naomi, Ozawa Moto, Matsuyama Hiroshi, Kamayatsu Yasuhiro, Kameyama Zenpei, Saga Hiroshi Running Time: 87 min. By Kelly Warner Seijun Suzuki was a contract studio director for Nikkatsu. That meant that he made the films they told him to, with little time for pre-production, rewrites, or creative decision making. 1961 alone saw the … Continue reading

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Fighting Fist | aka Lady Cop in Fury (1992) Review

"Fighting Fist" Theatrical Poster

AKA: Lady Cop in Fury Director: Sonny Chiba Co-director: Casey Chan Cast: Sibelle Hu, Sonny Chiba, Chin Kar Lok, Song Lei, Ken Lo, Shogo Shiotani, Masashi Ishibashi, Masaru Matsuda, Gam Biu, James Ha, Lee Fat-Yuen Running Time: 91 min. By Paul Bramhall Let’s face it, 1992 was a great year for Asian action cinema. Jet Li and Donnie Yen faced off in Once Upon a Time in China II, John … Continue reading

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Smashing the 0-Line (1960) Review

"Smashing the 0-Line" Japanese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Secret Zero Zone Director: Seijun Suzuki Cast: Hiroyuki Nagato, Yuji Kodaka,Sanae Nakahara, Mayumi Shimizu, Tomo’o Nagai, Kaku Takashina, Emiko Azuma, Shoichi Ozawa, Ryohei Uchida, Keisuke Noro Running Time: 83 min. By Kelly Warner One of my favorite film heroes is the investigative journalist. Seekers of truth armed only with pen and notepad, overturning stones to reveal the misdeeds of powerful men who thought justice couldn’t touch them. Films about … Continue reading

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Score (1995) Review

"Score" Japanese DVD Cover

Director: Atsushi Muroga Cast: Shu Ehara, Hiroshi Miyasaka, Ryushi Mizukami, Hitoshi Ozawa, Kazuyoshi Ozawa, Miyuki Takano, Takashi Ukaji, Masahiro Yamashita, Ryuji Minakami  Running Time: 88 min.  By Paul Bramhall While Japanese cinema in the 1990’s was already a far cry from its golden age, one of the best genres to come out of this era was that which would become known as V-Cinema. Kicked off by Toei’s 1989 feature Crime Hunter, … Continue reading

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Sleeping Beast Within, The (1960) Review

"The Sleeping Beast Within" Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Seijun Suzuki Writer: Ichiro Ikeda Cast: Hiroyuki Nagato, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Shinsuke Ashida, Kinzo Shin, Kojiro Kusanagi, Keisuke Noro, Hisano Yamaoka, Ko Nishimura, Shoichi Ozawa Running Time: 85 min.  By Kelly Warner After two years away on business, Mr. Ueki returns home on a ship from Hong Kong to meet his family at the Yokohama pier. None of his business partners are there to meet him and the family thinks this suspicious. After … Continue reading

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Osaka Badass: Snake of Violence (2013) Review

Director: Takahiro Ishihara Writer: Takahiro Ishihara Cast: Tak Sakaguchi, Maya Fukuzawa, Rikiya Kaido, Takashi Nishina, Tomoko Tabata, Taichi Suzuki Running Time: 110 min.  By Paul Bramhall The yakuza movie is my favorite of all the Japanese genres, and while its heyday of the 1970’s has long since passed, they are still being made, albeit in more of a trickle than the constant stream of a bygone era. With this in mind, Osaka Badass: Snake … Continue reading

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Vampire Clay (2017) Review

Director: Soichi Umezawa Producer: Yoshihiro Nishimura Cast: Ena Fujita, Asuka Kurosawa, Yuyu Makihara, Ryo Shinoda, Momoka Sugimoto Running Time: 80 min. By Kyle Warner Horror fans like to convince themselves that they’ve seen it all. ‘That new horror film everyone loves is actually a more mainstream take on a similar horror movie made 20 years ago that nobody paid attention to at the time, don’tchaknow?’ But then something like Vampire Clay … Continue reading

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